Frozen Love
by Blue Toad
Summary: Isaac wanted to comfort her, of course...but he'd never, in all of his years, knew that it would have lead to something far, far deeper...IsaacxMia, rated T for themes later on and oneshot.


**So, my first Golden Sun fic. And it's Mudshipping! Yay!**

**Now, first off, if you don't like Mudshipping, you're free to leave, I don't hold grudges. Still here? Good! Now, this started off as a contest entry for a fanfiction contest on a GS fansite, which I was quite happy for. ****I'd always wanted to write about MiaxIsaac, but it wasn't till now that I was finally able to do that. So, I was really happy.**

**I don't know if I've won yet, but I'm not really fussed. I enjoyed writing this and I'm quite proud of it, though it could have been better, I feel...ah well, nobody's perfect.**

**Sooooo yeah, that's it, really. Have fun reading!**

**~Blue Toad~  
**

* * *

She had no desire to join them downstairs.

Nor did she deserve to. At least, that was how she felt.

Her staff laid beside her, on the pure white coloured sheets. She gripped it tightly, whilst deep in thought, her silk gloves masking her hands. The room was dimly lit by a lamp overheard, and there was a dark blue vase on a bedside table, snow drops hanging from green stems. A single window was behind the vase.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Mia, however, had an inkling of who it was. Her suspicion was proven right as a voice called out.

"Mia, is it alright if I come in?"

Mia at first was hesitant; she had been excused from their table down below in the inn, while they were eating and discussing what to do next. Now, he had come up here after her. It couldn't have been more then twenty minutes...but...

There was a second knock, and before she knew it, she called out to reply.

"It's fine." Every instinct begged her to reconsider, she just wanted to be alone. But...there was something about Isaac. She wasn't entirely sure...but...

The blonde haired swordsman walked in, closing the door behind him. His yellow scarf trailed behind him slightly, and his brown boots created thud-like noises along the wooden floorboard as he strode across the room, before pausing next to Mia.

"I thought you might like some hot chocolate."

Mia had indeed noticed a blue mug, filled with the brown beverage. There was a white foam substance, with little brown spots. Imil's typical hot chocolate. She thought it rude to turn the offer away...

"Thank you." She freed a hand from grasping the staff, and took the mug, a colourless vapour rising slowly from the hot liquid. Then, she allowed her second hand to take the other side of the cup, whilst her other hand took hold of the handle.

"Are you...all right, Mia?" Isaac asked. She noted that his voice was filled with concern.

"I'm fine." Her reply was a mumble, and it quite clearly told the opposite.

"You just...seemed so distant downstairs."

"I...merely want to be alone. That's all."

"Are you tired? I mean, you've spent the last few days running around Imil, trying to help everyone who had that horrible disease...and then, you had to scale all the way up Mercury Lighthouse. Not to mention all the fighting we did...it can't be healthy for you to push yourself so hard."

"I'm stronger then you think." She muttered dully. Isaac continued to gaze at her.

"But...I'm worried about you-"

Mia couldn't take anymore of this. She could already feel tears beginning to well up in her turquoise eyes. All this time, she had stared at the mug of hot chocolate that Isaac had delivered to her.

"Isaac. Will you _please_ just go." Her voice was hard, and the words were teetering on the border of a request and an order.

Suddenly, Isaac had bent down, face level to Mia. It wasn't till that moment, when she looked at Isaac's face fully in the light, that she saw the worry and concern in his face. It was almost like he was pleading to help her.

"Mia...please...I know we've only met today..." His hand gently wrapped around Mia's arm, and his touch was one of kindness and caring. Mia felt odd as she continued to watch him.

"But...I hate to see anyone suffering. And I can tell you're being tortured about...something. I know it's not easy to deal with something by yourself...so, please...at least know you can talk to me about it."

That was it. The point where she decided and broke.

Tears fell onto her lap, dropping lightly onto her dress. She bent her head low, the bangs of her hair hiding her face.

Then, she noticed the bed she was sitting on seemed to decrease in height a little. The next thing she knew, a pair of arms had embraced her. A gloved, leather hand stroked the top of her head, another had wrapped around her shoulders, and she could feel something light against her head. Isaac's head.

"It's okay, Mia. You can let as many tears loose as you wish. I'll go if you desire it, but I would really prefer to help you..."

His voice was so comforting to her, as if he was protecting her in a way. She felt different now. She was touched, that someone she didn't know that well was this determined about helping her.

"N-No...thank you...Isaac." She whispered, only loud enough for him to hear, despite that they were alone.

There was a pause as Isaac broke the embrace, but left a hand on Mia's shoulder.

"So...what's the matter?"

Mia sniffed, wiping away a few tears with the back of her hand.

"It's quite simple, really. I failed to protect the lighthouse. A-Alex and the others...lit it, and I wasn't able to stop them."

"You mean, _we _weren't able to stop them."

Mia shook her head, her turquoise coloured bangs swaying slightly.

"No. It's different. I'm the guardian of Mercury Lighthouse. I'm supposed to prevent it from ever being lit! And look what happened. Alex is now attempting to light the rest of them, and he managed to light this one because I couldn't s-stop him!" Her voice was breaking again.

Isaac was silent for a moment. Then, he pulled Mia towards him, allowing her to lean on his right arm.

"Mia...Alex is a Mercury Adept as well. It's not your fault he penetrated the lighthouse so well...he knew his way around and everything."

"B-but...still..."

"If anyone failed...it was me." Isaac replied grimly.

Mia looked up at Isaac questioningly, her sadness seemed to have vanished slightly.

"W-what do you mean...?"

"Well...let's see. I couldn't stop the theft of the Elemental Stars in Sol Sanctum. We allowed Mernardi and Saturos to sneak their way into Mt Aleph, and me and Garet couldn't save Jenna and Kraden. Now, we've failed to prevent Mercury Lighthouse from being lit, and we couldn't save Jenna or Kraden yet again. And before I forget, we let Saturos escape, when we had him at our mercy." There was a bitter, yet matter of fact tone to Isaac's voice.

"But...as frustrating as it is, I've learned something from it all."

Mia was curious as to what Isaac was getting at. She had seen a glimpse of him like this, when Alex had fled with Saturos from the aerie of Mercury Lighthouse. But...to see it so clearly...now, he was smiling slightly.

"You can't dwell on your failures. If you do that, you only allow despair and regret to fill you, and haunt you...someday, it could even kill you."

Mia blinked, surprised by what Isaac was saying.

"So, please...Mia. Look to the future...we can still stop Alex, Saturos and Mernardi from fulfilling their goals. We can still save Weyard...and my friends. It's not over yet. You can amend your failures. So...that's why I don't want you to suffer because of what you could have done. It's over, and you should just look forward."

"I...Isaac..." Mia whispered. She was so touched...even motivated by what he said. She turned to look at down at her hot chocolate.

"You're right...I-It's wrong of me to be like this...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to have to bother you with any of this..."

"No, it's okay Mia. Really." He smiled reassuringly at her.

Mia smiled back, and turned back to look at the mug. It was still rather warm. Then, she lifted it up and allowed the liquid to travel into her mouth and down her throat.

It was warm, and yet so refreshing. As she parted the mug from her lips, she could hear a chuckle coming from the Venus Adept beside her.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Y...You just have...a bit of..." Isaac pointed to his upper lip. Mia responded by brushing a silk finger to the same spot on her face.

A small, piece of white foam was now on her finger. Mia stared at it before realizing.

"O-oh!" She blushed, wiping her upper lip with her glove. She brushed the white foam away from the hot chocolate, causing Isaac to laugh lightly. Then, she was careful this time, downing the rest of the liquid. Brown grains, like dark sand were settled around the cup.

"Um...excuse me, Mia?"

"Yes, Isaac?"

He nodded in the direction of the window, and Mia could see now that it had begun to snow, white, pure snowflakes falling from the dark sky to the village below.

"Would you...perhaps mind if we went for a walk?"

Mia stared at him, a little bemused by his request. Still...he was very nice, and he had helped her. She felt...like she was safe with him. It was ever so strange. In any case, she wanted to return the favour for helping her.

"I would love to." She replied happily.

Isaac smiled and stood up, offering his hand to the beautiful turquoise haired Mercury Adept. She responded by putting the now empty blue mug on the bedside, and placing her hand in his, leaving her staff on the bed. The pair smiled as they walked out of the room, the only sounds they made being footsteps, and the opening and closing of the door.

* * *

Snow crunched beneath Isaac's feet as he walked across the white surface, Mia's arms were wrapped gently around his right one, holding on to him.

Isaac paused briefly, stared up into the night sky. All he could see was snow falling constantly, small white flakes floating down to join their brothers and sisters on the surface of the earth.

"It's strange...it's like time has frozen. Yet, it's...so beautiful." He whispered.

"Have you...ever seen snow before, Isaac?"

Isaac shook his head, and Mia gave him a look that was slightly piteous.

"I see...it's very beautiful, yes. I love Imil so much..." She closed her eyes, as if she was relishing in

memories.

"You don't get snow in Vale. I never even left the village until...all of this happened."

His hand curled into a fist, and Mia was a bit surprised by his action.

"So...the world is a new thing for you then?"

"Yeah...actually, have you ever left Imil, Mia?"

Mia seemed to stiffen for a moment, before she answered.

"No...I've always been in training here as a healer and a Mercury Adept...when I leave with you tomorrow, I'll be experiencing new things too."

"Well, past the Biblin Cave is amazing...the grass is always being swayed by a lazy breeze, the rivers flows gently down the continent, trees stand tall and mighty..."

"It...sounds wonderful, I have to say...but I'll always love this place. I would rather live here then anywhere else in the world, even if I was the richest girl in Weyard..."

Isaac stared at her for a moment, then smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that. It...wasn't easy for me to leave my mother in Vale...she didn't come to see me off...I don't think she could handle it, after losing my father three years earlier."

"You must...miss her terribly. I'm sorry to hear that..." Mia gripped Isaac's arm tightly, as if to comfort him in a way. She then rested her head against his shoulder.

"It's tough, yes...but I promised I wouldn't return to Vale until we had stop Saturos and Mernardi...and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Isaac seemed rather gallant for a moment, and Mia seemed to stare at him blankly. Isaac noticed her expression, and chuckled.

"You're a very odd girl, aren't you, Mia?"

Mia frowned at Isaac, and loosened her grip. Isaac was stunned by her sudden action, and she walked off a few feet away.

"Um...Mia...did I offend yo-"

"No. I just feel bored."

Isaac didn't stand a chance. A flying ball of white struck him, snow blasting over his left cheek. He stepped back, his face looking directly down.

Then, he looked up, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Well...all right then."

He quickly swiped a hand across the ground, and curled it into a snowball. Taking aim at the Mercury Adept, Isaac hurled the ball of snow. Mia gave a giggle, and ducked as it narrowly missed her.

"No _way _you're getting away with that!" Isaac scooped up two more batches of snow, and threw them at Mia.

Mia again managed to sidestep in time for the first, but as she turned, the second snowball hit her hair, exploding into white pieces, blending with her turquoise hair. She turned to Isaac, who was smiling, and she had a you're-going-to-regret-that look.

Mia bent down, and picked up another snowball. However, as she stood up, Isaac was no further then two inches away from her. She gave a cry and smashed the snowball into Isaac's left cheek, his face now bright pink. Isaac didn't let this stop him however; snow fell from his cheek as he grabbed her hands, and the pair instantly stumbled. They immediately found themselves rolling continuously down a hill, being coated in snow. They were both laughing as they hit the bottom, much like children, Isaac's back to the ground and Mia resting on top of him chest first.

The laughter from the pair died as they suddenly noticed just how close they were...their faces were barely inches from each other, Mia's hair had become wild and swept onto Isaac's cheeks. His scarf meanwhile laid lifeless on the ground, tied around his neck still, but his owner had forgotten him.

Isaac gently raised a hand and brushed her cheek, smoothly. Mia couldn't help but blush, with this and Isaac's eyes being so hard to remove one's own eyes from.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're utterly _adorable_ when you blush?" Isaac breathed lightly.

Mia turned a shocking shade of pink of this, smiling madly.

"Well...has anyone told you that your blonde hair is _so_ lovely to touch?"

Isaac had noticed that Mia's left hand seemed to have found it's way onto his hair, stroking the gold body part in question.

"No one as cute as you." He was smiling as well now, and the pair seemed to lose themselves in each other's eyes...slowly moving forward...at the same time...so very, _very close..._

Their lips met, a blissful and peaceful touch as the snow floated around and on top of them. Isaac could tell one thing. Time certainly _did _seem to freeze now, purely for their love. His hand found it's way down the back of Mia's robe, gently rubbing her bare skin. Mia's hand seemed unable to resist Isaac's face, always grasping it lightly. Their moment was so full of love it was surprising the snow didn't melt around them. All they knew, is that they just wanted to stay like this...forever...forever...

Foreve-

"HEY!"

And of course, it had to be ruined.

The Venus and Mercury adepts suddenly broke apart, rather surprised. They swung their heads around wildly, determined to find that who had spotted them...

They instantly heard snow being crushed at a formidable rate, and someone...a dark, large shape was sliding down the hill, followed by a smaller shape.

Garet burst in front of them, looking down at the two with an amused grin.

"Well Isaac, I never knew you went with the girls like _that_!" He laughed, and Ivan slid down next to him.

"Garet, it was rude of us to follow..." But Garet was too busy laughing to hear him.

As for Isaac and Mia, they had become momentarily lost in the other's eyes...they gripped each other tightly...they had discovered something special this night. And they'd always treasure it.

Each other.

* * *

**Soooo yeah, that's it, really. I always prefer IsaacxMia, but I'm open to IsaacxJenna as well...I hope you enjoyed this, in any case. I had fun writing it. Thanks for reading and take care of yourself!**

**~Blue Toad~  
**


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